At the right point of the orbit and stellar cycle, the star’s chromosphere brightens.

Southwest Research Institute scientists propose a new model for the formation of compact exoplanetary systems that contain multiple rocky planets in tight orbits around their star. In this model, ...

For over 10 years, scientists have been decoding the mysterious atmosphere of a famous “Pink Planet.” Now, thanks to ...

A seismic shift occurred in astronomy during the Scientific Revolution, beginning with 16th-century polymath Copernicus and his proposal that the Earth revolved around the sun. By the 17th century, ...

Studying the orbits of thousands of exoplanets shows that large planets tend to have elliptical orbits, while smaller planets tend to have more circular orbits. This split coincides with several other ...

A distant, icy body circling the Sun far beyond Neptune has handed astronomers a fresh puzzle. Designated 2023 KQ14 and ...

Planets are bodies that orbit a star and have sufficient gravitational mass that they form themselves into roughly spherical shapes that, in turn, exert gravitational force on smaller objects around ...

EVANSTON, Ill. — Except for the fact that we call it home, for centuries astronomers didn’t have any particular reason to believe that our solar system was anything special in the universe. But, ...

Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune did not always have their current positions in the solar system. According to the planetary-instability model, they were born a little closer to the Sun and closer ...

In space, planets are supposed to orbit their stars in roughly the same direction that the star itself spins. It is a rule ...